Caught In The Net
by Saxyad18
Summary: Before she saw her as her mother, Rosalie thought of Esme as an older sister. How does a trip to New York to find her wedding dress change their relationship? One-shot from Rosalie's perspective. Pre-Twilight/ Rosalie's and Emmett's first wedding c. 1937.


**A/N- I have no idea where this came from. I had a strange moment of inspiration last night as I was working on the outtakes from Find My Place, and the result was this fluffy little one-shot.  
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**I often wondered what it took for Rosalie to see Esme as her mother, and this was one event I thought might have produced the shift in that relationship.**

**I also maintained the vulnerability I think is often missing in Rosalie's character.**

**I hope you all enjoy this short one-shot.**

**Please take the time to review.**

**As always, thanks for reading! ^_^**

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**RPOV**

I stared at my ring as it glistened and glittered in the sunlight, the delicate filigree pairing perfectly with the diamonds. Emmett had certainly outdone himself. I had a feeling Carlisle may have been involved in the process of procuring it.

I still remembered the day I found Emmett and drug him back to Carlisle, fighting the overwhelming temptation to bite him for an excruciatingly long time. I would endure that and so much more again if I had to in order to keep Emmett with me.

He had proposed a few months ago, getting down on bended knee and bumbling through his prepared speech.

It was such a contrast to Royce's proposal. He had taken me to a fancy restaurant, inviting all our friends and family. Roses and violets adorned each table, with the most impressive arrangement placed upon ours. Crystal champagne flutes were passed around and Royce stood while I remained seated in my chair.

He'd made some impressive speech, never once stuttering, but fully lacking in any true emotion. He produced an enormous engagement ring, which I fawned over and then waved in the faces of all of my still single friends; and on that note, in the faces of most of my married friends too.

The gesture was lavish, but completely impersonal.

Emmett's proposal was simple, but completely heartfelt. I'd never felt so happy in my entire life. I was still floating. Even Edward and I were getting along these days.

Thankfully, Emmett was sufficiently in control of his bloodlust and we'd moved recently, so we could have an official ceremony. Granted the pastor would be the only human in attendance. I wanted the fairytale wedding I had always dreamed of and Esme was too eager to help.

We'd stressed for days over flowers, centerpieces, color schemes and the like. It had taken months, but we'd finally nailed down all the details. All the details save one– my dress.

Esme had convinced Carlisle that we needed to go to New York in order to find the perfect dress. It had taken her days to convince him that I wouldn't be discovered as Rosalie Hale.

I think she was more excited about it than I was. I supposed it was because she didn't have enough control at the time of her wedding to be fitted for her dress; she'd made her own. I was perfectly fine with Esme living vicariously through me if it meant my wedding to Emmett was perfect.

The day our trip began finally arrived and we bid the boys farewell as we weaved down the road in the Chrysler Imperial. We had a lavish suite in the Plaza Hotel and would be visiting one of the premier wedding boutiques at the end of the week.

When Thursday finally arrived, Esme and I were both giddy with excitement. She made the perfect older sister. We sauntered into the boutique and were immediately stunned by the beauty surrounding us.

"Somewhere on these walls is the perfect wedding dress," she smiled.

I nodded enthusiastically. An equally enthusiastic clerk, Marilyn, met us. She was a little bit of a thing, with wild chocolate curls and big blue eyes.

"Mrs. Cullen, Miss Cullen," she greeted us. "It is such a pleasure to meet you both. I've taken the liberty of pulling several selections in to a private fitting room to get us started."

It felt strange to be known as Miss Lillian Cullen, but Carlisle and I favored enough that I could convincingly claim to be his younger, affianced, sister. I couldn't, well more like wouldn't, claim to be Edward's sister.

We followed her back to the fitting room where six stunning dresses awaited us. Four would produce elegant silhouette in satin and lace. One was made in the new halter style with a cathedral coat made of silk and lace.

It was beautiful, but what caught my eye most was probably the most unassuming dress of the six. Layers and layers of white silk netting covered a silver lame underskirt. Silver lame bows adorned the bodice and the skirt. Puffed net cap sleeves only added to its charm.

I saved that dress for last, trying on all the others first. I was stunning in each of course. Esme and Marilyn gushed over me. Before I knew it, it was time to try on the last dress.

Esme carefully fastened the thirty-nine buttons up my back and I heard her gasp at my reflection in the mirror. Marilyn finished placing the lily-of-the-valley headpiece in my blonde curls and then stepped away.

I counted to five before I allowed myself to look at my reflection.

My eyes grew wide, but for all the wrong reasons. Wrong. Wrong! This was so wrong!

I looked like an angel, like a being of the purist spirit, but I knew better. I hadn't felt pure since that night, and more than because of the actions of Royce and his friends. I had killed people, and I could still see the bloody stains splashed across my first wedding dress reflected on this one.

Suddenly, I couldn't get the dress off fast enough. I couldn't marry Emmett. He deserved something so much better than me.

"Take it off," I whispered, but with obvious agony in my tone. When neither Esme nor Marilyn moved, I turned in a flurry of netting. "Get it off of me. Take it off. Now."

I grew more and more hysterical. All of the sudden, the thirty-nine buttons did not seem so sweet. They were nuisances. I had to restrain myself from tearing the lovely dress to shreds. I redressed quickly and left a baffled Esme and equally baffled Marilyn in the fitting room as I fled the shop.

I could hear Esme apologizing to Marilyn for my behavior, but I couldn't focus enough to make out exactly what she was saying, nor did I care.

How could I have been so stupid? I needed to get away, but I couldn't just leave Esme. I paced the front parlor of the boutique impatiently, waiting for her to reappear. It seemed to take hours, but she finally rejoined me and I practically pulled her out the door. She followed behind me wordlessly as I stalked toward our hotel as though the hounds of hell were at my feet.

I stormed into our suite, and still Esme remained silent. Pacing to and fro, I tried to regain control of my racing thoughts. I couldn't get the image of my sullied wedding dress out of my mind. Nor could I banish the equally frightening image of my demonic red eyes and gore covered face.

Oh god. Emmett wouldn't want to marry a murderer, no matter how much those men deserved their ends. Frantic, my pacing increased, and I began to run my hands through my hair, upsetting the beautiful updo it had taken me nearly an hour to complete this morning.

"Rosalie," whispered Esme, as she stopped me mid stride, holding on to my forearms to prevent my escape.

"Rosalie, you need to tell me what's the matter."

I couldn't speak. Esme knew what I had done, but to say it aloud made it all the more terrible.

"Didn't you like the dress?" she tried a stealthier approach.

"Of course, it was perfect," I practically wailed, falling to the floor on my knees, holding my arms around my torso with my head bowed.

"Then why all the flurry, Rosalie?" she asked as she tilted my head up to meet her gaze.

The compassion shining in her eyes destroyed what was left of my barriers. I crumpled again.

"All I could see was red." I mumbled.

"I don't understand."

"The blood, all that blood. Staining, tainting, ruining. How could Emmett ever want me? How could I have been so stupid?" I began to dry sob into my hands, realizing that I couldn't even have the part of my happily ever after possible as a vampire.

I was going to have to leave. I couldn't stay and have to keep my distance from Emmett; he deserved so much better.

"Oh Rosalie," Esme cooed, taking me into her arms. "Hush now darling."

I continued to sob as she stroked my hair. For the first time, I could see why Edward saw her as his mother. She was beginning to take on that role for me as well.

"Shhh, darling. It'll all turn out right, you'll see," she comforted.

"I can't let him marry me. I just can't. He deserves so much better."

"No, dear. He deserves to be happy, and Emmett can't be happy unless he has you. We'll find another dress, and in a few weeks, you will walk down the aisle and the only thing you are going to be able to see is the smile on his face and the twinkle in his eye. Nothing else will matter."

It took nearly an hour, but eventually I quieted.

The next day, Esme drug me to another wedding boutique, where I chose and exquisite bias-cut dress of off white silk and lace. It looked nothing like the frothy net perfection from yesterday. I was stunning and Esme sent me to wait outside while she made all the necessary arrangements to have the dress delivered to our hotel later that day.

The rest of our trip passed uneventfully. The drive home was a solemn affair. Esme seemed to know I needed time to think, allowing silence to fill the car.

Emmett greeted me enthusiastically, eyeing the garment bag Edward carried up to my bedroom. It wouldn't matter if he saw the gown; he already knew what it looked like from viewing it my Esme's and my minds.

As the weeks flew past, I found myself wishing I had gone back for the first dress. It was perfect. I knew it and Esme knew it, but she never pressed me to return to the boutique and face Marilyn.

The morning of the wedding, Esme and I woke early. She helped me wash and dry my hair; then she styled it in a beautiful arrangement of twists, curls, and waves, interweaving lilies-of-the-valley across the crown. It reminded me of the headpiece that matched my perfect wedding dress.

I sighed, thinking about what Emmett would have looked like when he saw me gliding down the aisle in a cloud of swirling net. No matter. I would wear the biased cut silk and he'd never be any the wiser.

Thirty minutes before the ceremony was scheduled to begin in garden behind the house I asked Esme to help me into my gown. She looked positively giddy. I wished I could work myself up to her level of excitement; it was my wedding day after all. I knew I would achieve that level of bliss when I was in Emmett's arms, but it was much harder without him here with me.

"Are you ready, dear?" I heard Esme ask.

I nodded and removed my robe ready to slip on the silk dress. She left to go retrieve my dress from where it had been hanging in her and Carlisle's bedroom. My wardrobe wasn't tall enough to prevent the train from wrinkling.

If I could have cried, I would have been sobbing when Esme walked back into the room. There, in her arms, was the beautiful net dress.

"How?" I questioned, my voice cracking.

"I knew from the moment you put on this dress that it was the one you had to wear for your wedding. When you rushed out of the boutique, I made the arrangements with Marilyn to have to the dress altered to your size and then shipped directly here."

"Oh, Esme," I breathed, "Thank you so much."

"Think nothing of it, darling. I just wanted this day to be perfect for you." She smiled at me.

At that moment I knew I would never see Esme as anything but my mother. She had made this day absolutely perfect for me.

I stepped into my dream dress, and I felt no regrets as she fastened the buttons once again. This time when I looked into the mirror, I didn't see a vengeful vampire, covered in the stains of her past.I saw a deliriously happy girl, flanked by her mother, who looked every bit a princess on her wedding day.

"I hope you don't mind; I left the veil. I thought you might like to wear mine. Something old and borrowed, you know," She tentatively offered as she pinned a lovely white net veil in my hair.

The moment her fingers left my hair, I turned around in a flurry of net, and hugged her with more feeling than I had ever hugged my own mother.

"Thank you, Esme."

She continued to beam at me. Carlisle knocked at door and Esme turned to let him in.

He sucked in a breath as he saw me.

"Rosalie, you are absolutely stunning, my dear."

I smiled demurely.

"Edward asked me to give this to you; he thought you might be in need of something new and blue," he said as he offered me a box.

I was surprised by the gesture and gasped as I opened it. Nestled into black velvet was a set of stunning sapphire earrings. I placed the box on my vanity and then proceeded to put on the earrings. I loved how they looked next to my flaxen hair.

"I also have something," he admitted as he knelt by my feet. He pulled something from his vest pocket. "A silver sixpence for your shoe."

I couldn't help the laugh that bubbled out. Likely, Carlisle had been in possession of that sixpence for quite a while.

"Come along, dear," he said, "It's time for us all to witness Emmett's reaction to your beauty."

I began to take his arm, but thought better of it. I turned back to Esme, who had been watching the scene with fondness.

I embraced her again, whispering in her ear, "Thank you for everything you've done for me. Not just today, but since I joined this family. I am so proud to be your daughter. I love you, mother."

I heard her and Carlisle gasp simultaneously and I felt Esme tremble in my arms. When I pulled away, I knew there would be tears coursing down her face if at all possible.

I returned to Carlisle's side and began my decent of the stairs. The garden was a veritable wonderland of gorgeous flowers and decorations, but I only had eyes for Emmett, who stood there beaming at me, both dimples prominent on his cheeks and a twinkle in his eyes. It was just like Esme said.

I floated down the aisle, the net swirling about me, billowing in the slight breeze. For the first time in my life, I felt whole and utterly complete.

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**A/N- Well, that's it folks. I felt the need to write something rather fluffy to offset my usually angst-filled fics. I hope you enjoyed it.**

**Please leave a review and thanks for reading! ^_^**


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